HomeNewsLocal NewsPrincess Charlene says she is now “calmer” after traumatic year
Princess Charlene says she is now “calmer” after traumatic year
By Cassandra Tanti - May 25, 2022
Princess Charlene has spoken publicly for the first time since resuming official duties, telling Monaco Matin that she now feels “more calm” although still fragile after a year marked by illness. Appearing at the Monte-Carlo Fashion Awards, the mother of two said that she was “delighted” to be taking Princess Gabriella to her first official mother/daughter event.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday evening, Princess Charlene shared a special photo of Princess Gabriella sitting on her lap, with the caption: “I loved every moment preparing my Princess for her first official event.”
The occasion was the Monte-Carlo Fashion Awards, of which Princess Charlene is patron, and it marked a rare solo outing for the pair. Gabriella’s twin brother, Prince Jacques, is always by her side when they accompany their parents to official events.
And it is clear that the little princess follows in the fashionable footsteps of her mother.
The event was the third official showing by Princess Charlene since she resumed her public activities on 30th April. It was also the first time she has broken her silence on the difficult year that now appears to be behind her.
In an interview with Monaco Matin’s Cedric Verany, the Princess said that her return to Monaco after eight months in South Africa due to complications from a severe ear, throat and nose infection was challenging.
“When I returned to the Principality, I focused all my energy on my children, my husband and my health because they are my priority,” the Princess told Monaco Matin. “My state of health is still fragile and I don’t want to go too fast. The road has been long, difficult and so painful. Today I feel more calm.”
The princess said that she found it “regrettable” that certain media had spread rumours of a divorce with her husband Prince Albert, adding that “Albert was very supportive, we discussed these malicious articles together and he did everything to protect me and our children.”
The Princess revealed that she was thrilled to be attending her first official mother/daughter event at Monte-Carlo Fashion Week, and that the young princess behaves like most little girls when it comes to dress-up.
“Gabriella, like all little girls her age, loves princess dresses, doing her hair and even trying on my lipsticks,” she said. “Gabriella has her own style and I like to encourage that individuality. This mother/daughter fashion outing for the Monte-Carlo Fashion Awards delighted me and we went on stage together for the first time.”
The princess concluded by saying that she was excited to take part in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, revealing that Prince Jacques will be doing the lap of honour with his father Prince Albert for the first time, and that it will be a “great source of pride” for her and her husband.
Yoshi fans can now enjoy their favourite Michelin-star cuisine poolside as the Metropole Hotel takes its renowned Japanese restaurant to the Karl Lagerfeld-designed Odyssey rooftop terrace for the summer months.
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene have taken their children, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, to Norway for a commemorative tour dedicated to his ancestor, ocean explorer Albert I.
With people from over 20 countries making up 35 teams competing in three different classes, the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge is taking the ideas of today to create a sustainable boating culture for tomorrow.
The Monte-Carlo Opera and the Prince’s Musicians are heading to Vienna after being invited for the first time to be part of the Rossini Mania Festival at the Vienna State Opera House.
The Ligue 1 calendar for the 2022/23 season has been and Monaco Life takes a look at the stand-out fixtures, including a congested August schedule, which will include Champions League play-off matches.
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[caption id="attachment_29934" align="alignnone" width="599"] Stock photo: Instagram monarc_aviation[/caption]
A £50,000 contract like Marco’s comes around only a couple of times a year.
A recent widower in his late fifties, Marco lives between Trieste, Monaco, Cap Ferrat, and Houston – a complicated geography for a client but nothing our agency’s expertise can’t handle.
Marco’s two children are in their early twenties, and loved their American mother dearly. He asked us to search for an elegant lady with a well-established career, who travelled for work or pleasure, and/or owned her own business. Also, as he didn’t wish to have more children or further upset his own, he wanted to meet an age-appropriate woman also in her 50s.
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Cross-cultural, smart, and cosmopolitan were the qualities of potential partners, which we found easily in our database.
I had matched Marco with six international dates (of the ten in his contract). The profiles included a tech entrepreneur who travelled regularly from Sophia Antipolis, France, to the US; a pharmaceutical heiress whose interests were complementary to Marco’s Italian-Austrian fortunes inherited from his grandparent’s biopharmaceutical business; and a Nigella Lawson-type gourmet expert, who ran a cooking school in London and a summer school in Valbonne, France.
Yet six months into his contract, Marco began feeling restless. Since we provide 24-hour phone access with a £50,000 contract, he began calling me in the middle of the night, trying to take control of the search with additional suggestions for partners. Furthermore, the minimum age had dropped to 45 when Marco celebrated his 60th birthday with a party for a hundred friends at his home in St-Jean-Cap-Farrat at the end of summer.
By November, Marco summoned me to St Moritz to look at more profiles. As per protocol, I suggested no more than three. He refused my advice. I was searching my database for a woman I’d met named Eva when I mistakenly clicked on another Eva’s file.
“Wait, who is that?” Marco inquired looking at the screen.
“Oh no, she’s not right for you,” I replied, but Marco had seen Eva’s picture and declared: “I want her, and I want her now!”
All the psychology and training that goes into matching would indicate these two profiles had very little in common. Eva, 38, was not interested in having children and her stunning looks were enough to keep her self-obsessed. And even though she comes from a wealthy Monaco-based Danish family, she was self-sufficient: she earned a law degree to keep her father happy, but did not feel the need to practice law.
I got hold of Eva and she agreed to meet Marco … the following month. Waiting was not something you want to ask a man like Marco to do. “Tell her that I will send my plane to Nice airport for her to board at any time the next day,” was his answer.
Eva was not easily persuaded, though. Marco relented and said she could bring her miniature pooch. Sneezing at the thought, he grumbled that she better be worth the effort.
She arrived in St Moritz, swishing down the private jet’s stairs in leather, fur and enormous sunglasses. She looked every inch as good in person as she did in photos. Eva looked Marco, who met her at the airport, up and down haughtily and kissed the air next to the sides of his head while exaggeratedly bending down from her mountainously inappropriate heels.
They had a quick glass of Meursault at Badrutt’s Palace and he then showed Eva to her suite as she was tired. She remained in her room for the next three days.
When she finally asked to see a doctor, a French-German silver fox melodramatically announced to Marco after the consultation, “Mademoiselle has had, ah, a recent augmentation – how you say, ‘boob job’. She was told she should not travel, but apparently you insisted, so she blames you for not feeling very well. In truth there is nothing wrong with her but the lady is, er, a little spoiled and would like to go home now.”
The moral of the story? Let your Matchmaker keep abreast of your potential partners. Tee hee.
Barbara Brudenell-Bruce is a matchmaker with London’s exclusive matchmaking agency, Vida, and her network boasts an impressive list of entrepreneurs, celebrities and aristocrats. She lives between Monaco and London. Article first published April 6, 2018.
Stock photo: Instagram 
